High School Youth Nights
2nd & 4th Sundays | 6-7pm
Join us for an evening of snacks, games & God's Word. This month we are exploring what it means to be TOGETHER as God's people.
High School Sunday Serve
3rd Sundays | 1-2pm
These afternoons are designed to be a time of service to our community and church. This month we will be assembling special thank you boxes for teachers.
Middle School Event
1st Sundays | 1-3pm
Keep an eye open for more information about Events for 6th-8th grade students each month. We hope you'll join us!
Youth Ministry at Home Lesson
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." -John 13:34-35
If you knew you only had a few hours to live, and you were going to spend the last hours of your life with the people closest to you, what would you say? It's safe to say that the words you'd speak during these final moments would no doubt be important. It's not like you'd spend some of your very last words idly chatting about the outfit so-and-so wore to the dance, or how your football team was looking this year. No. You'd make your final words count You'd make sure you said what you wanted to say, knowing this was your last chance.
Read John 13:34-35 above.
Here we find Jesus in the very scenario we just referenced. Jesus is in the final hours of his life, and in the final moments of his time with the disciples. These are the men Jesus is closest to. These are the people Jesus had hand-picked to be His followers. He had spent virtually 24 hours a day with these men for the past three years. He had shaped them to carry on in his absence. And look for what His last words to them were: Love each other.
We are called to love one another. In fact, Jesus said that the world would be able to look at us and know that we were different simply because of how Christians cared for each other. What an absolutely amazing concept. Jesus said that the defining feature of Christ-followers would be our sincere and authentic love for one another. Wow! Elsewhere in Scripture, we see how this love is supposed to look. But for now, let's just think about this commandment Jesus gave us.
Look around you, these people are whom God has chosen to surround you with. Do you love them? Does that seem like a weird question? While it may sound awkward to our ears, it's exactly what Jesus has commanded that we do. And not with just any old love, but with a love that looks like the very love Jesus had for us. That's a big time task, isn't it?
Some questions to consider:
- When you hear the call to love others, do you truly grasp it? Do you get that it means to actually love them? Why can Jesus make such a request of us?
- Why is it sometimes difficult to love others/
- Jesus says we are supposed to love others like He loved us. Describe how Jesus loves us.
- Are you willing to truly embrace this commandment? What does that look like in your life?
Close in Prayer
Father God, give us the strength to follow through with loving the people that you have put in our lives. May your love overflow in our lives to those around us and may they know you better because of your overflowing love! In Jesus name we pray, Amen!
